SanteríaThe Yoruba people, who were brought over from Nigeria as slaves, came to the Caribbean in the 1500’s with their own religion, which was seen as unfit by the white slave owners. Most plantation owners in the Caribbean were members of the Roman Catholic Church, so they forced their slaves to disregard their native religions and become Catholic. Soon, the slaves realized that they could still practice their West African religion as long as it was disguised as Catholicism, and Santería was born. Now it’s practiced in the United States, Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain, Canada, Venezuela, and Panama.

Based on Santería, people are born under a guardian Orisha, or saint, that must be worshipped throughout life. Each Orisha is an aspect of one supreme god. The seven main Orishas are known as the Seven African Powers. Eleggua is the gatekeeper between life and the afterlife in heaven and is the connection between the Orishas, humans, and god. He is very powerful because without him, there would be no communication between humanity and the saints. The Catholic Saint that is associated with Eleggua is Saint Anthony, and the colors associated with him are red and black.

Obatala is acknowledged as the parent of the Orishas and all of humanity, the creator of the world, and the enforcer of justice. He is linked with qualities of intelligence, harmony, compassion, and purity, so his color is white. In Catholicism, he represents the saint Our Lady of Mercy. According to legend, Obatala would consume so much palm wine while forming the bodies of babies who were going to be born, that many of them were born deformed. He was told by his spiritual guide, Olofi, that he wasn’t allowed to drink palm wine while performing his most important job. Now, any child who his born with a defect is considered to be a child of Obatala, so taunting them isn’t allowed.

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...What is Santeria?
Santeria is a religion that derived from Yoruba, South-West Africa. It is the practice of communicating with different saints and through their power casting good and evil spells. This religion that has no written text and has been passed on by verbal communication. In the early and mid 1500s when the slave trade was still in action. African citizens were brought to Cuba, carrying with them nothing except a new imposed faith, Catholicism. While...

... Santeria: Worshipping the Saints
The religion of Santeria is a very different one compared to others more accepted and practiced like Christianity, Catholicism, and Judaism. Yet, one belief that all of these religions have in common with Santeria is the faith of God. The word Santeria when translated means “the worship of saints” which is exactly what makes Santeria different from...

...Voodoo is a monotheistic religion that has a central belief in one god, Bondye. Bondye is unreachable and the only way to communicate with him is through Ioa. The Ioa or lwa are divinity spirits in Voodoo. They are very similar to the Orishas in the Santeria religion. There are twelve principal Ioas, and the most important or the one with the most power is “Papa Legba.” Papa Legba must be saluted at all ceremonies. It is a large sin to offend him and permission from him must be...

...looked like he would go down as a simple man who had a short life and an even shorter time on the radio.
That is, until Santeria hit the radio on July 30th of that same year. A little over a month after Nowell passed away, his final album with Sublime was released. One song in particular stood out and would later come to define Sublime and their recordings. That song was Santeria, and although it would become the defining work of Nowell, it was nothing like...